ABOUT THE ARTIST

Comments from reviews of Sneddon’s work over the years:

A Durham, NC, critic has said:

“Her scenes, which are so similar but so different, are about the light and the shapes; the water and the land are just the means by which she finds their essence and abstracts them into something much more than a traditional landscape. . . . (Sneddon’s) views change with the tides and with the moon. She shows us the many infinite patterns the water makes as it moves to and from the shore. She considers it from every angle, in every light, and in many different mediums.”

The same critic earlier observed:

“While dealing with familiar subjects —nature — in a realistically simple fashion, the artist leads us into new territory. Things are not as they seem. Nothing is easy. The work takes more than a quick look.”

From a show held at Moonshell Gallery in Hilton Head, SC, a reviewer said:

“Sneddon favors an approach to the re-creation of her subjects that is uniquely hers. Her special spin, her angle, her view and her interpretation amount to far more than the images in question. . . . Sneddon offers equal doses of detail and of mystery.”

A show held at Carteret Contemporary Art in Morehead City, NC, led gallery owner, Charles Jones, to observe:

“What’s interesting about a lot of Sue’s work is people’s reaction to it. People will see a piece, walk away, then come back to see it again. Art is often like that, but her pieces are very much like that. It’s as though people have a delayed emotional response to her work.”

Another gallery owner who represents the artist (and it is an observation heard over and over from many viewers of Sneddon’s work) commented:

“Sue Sneddon's work has changed the way I look at the world every day. I used to go to the beach. Now I see it.”

One of my first memories of drawing was trying to figure out how a dandelion flower turned into a ball of small seeds with fluffy tops that could be carried by the wind. I was probably five at the time, and at that early age I was drawing what was in front of me—bugs, flowers, clouds, trees—realistically, so I could attempt to understand how nature worked.

I grew up in the beauty of the Allegheny Mountains and Laurel Highlands area of southwestern Pennsylvania, in a family where creativity was highly valued. My mother and her three sisters were all artists. My father studied as a classical violinist until drafted into World War II. He became a jazz enthusiast, along with my mother and our home was often filled with music. Dad taught me to play bongos to Harry Belafonte records when I was 3 years old. My fascination with Carolina landscapes began on childhood vacations to Southern beaches.

< Cucumber Falls / pastel / 4 x 6

I had my first thought of being a painter was when I was 13 or 14. My mother and I were discussing whether the pink in a bank of oyster shells was a reflection of the pink sky or in the shells themselves. We were on the south end of Pawley’s Island, SC witnessing a glorious sunset. I said to myself, if I could paint the joy I feel in this moment, then I could be a painter.

Most of my work, as it turns out, is exactly that — fleeting moments of light in the sky, on water, or on wet sand. These moments do something to me that I can only express by trying to capture them on paper or canvas. I continue to realistically approach a subject at first, so that it gets filed in my brain somewhere, to be called on when I want to express how I feel about the moment of a sighting that has moved me.

Falling Water, PA / pastel / 6 x 10 >

I live for these moments of joy and wonder and reverence. Whether or not there is a human figure in the work I create, I may also be influenced by a conversation, visit, walk, or relationship associated with a particular moment I am trying to capture. And although water-related subjects are the ones I most frequently choose, there are other landscapes that I have painted over the years, particularly rural settings of trees, fields, and aging barns and houses.

Mixing a palette of colors for an oil painting is very intense for me. This ritual signifies the commitment of many days, weeks, or months of painting to capture this one moment. The application of a medium onto a surface can transport me to that first inspiration. I may hear the water, wind, birds, or a song I was humming. My senses are filled as if I were witnessing it for the first time.

< Edinboro Snow / pastel / 4 x 4

I work from memory. My memory is sometimes sparked by the notes/sketchbooks that are filled with these moments that I don’t want to forget. There are a lot of notes and sketchbooks. Sometimes I do see something and immediately paint it. But there can also be a long process of distilling an experience to its essential elements and then working to capture those in my work.

Childhood View / pastel / 10 x 3 >

Oil, pastel, acrylic, pencil, gouache, watercolor, oil pastel, pen and ink, and mixed media all have a station in my studio. I like to have options in my choice of medium, and also in the music that accompanies my work day. My tastes there are eclectic, as well, ranging from jazz to rock-and-roll, to classical, to folk and other genres. All of my artwork seems to have a soundtrack.

I am fortunate to have a studio that gives me access to my main sources of inspiration and allows me to mark my time by sunsets, tides, moon phases, solstices, and equinoxes. My studio looks out onto the marshes of a tidal river, the Shallotte River. And a 10-minute drive takes me over a bridge to the Atlantic Ocean, the place I feel most alive, where that powerful body of water meets the soft sand, with the ever-changing play of light on water. There is no check-out time. I am so very thankful.

BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION:

Ellerbee Creek / pastel / 4 x 4 >

Born in Uniontown , PA

1971-1975 — Edinboro University of Pennsylvania – BS in Art Education

I took studio courses in drawing, design, painting, sculpture, jewelry, ceramics, textiles, printmaking, woodworking, and independent study in portraiture and figure drawing. During this period of conceptual art and “happenings,” two art professors in particular provided encouragement for me to pursue my own artistic vision--Donna Nicholas (ceramics) and Mary Jane Kidd (drawing). Their support and interest led to lasting friendships.

1976-2003 — Resided in Durham, NC, working as an artist, freelance graphic artist and illustrator, and teacher, and starting in Feb. 1984, full-time artist